For many years, down, and down mixed with feathers, were the predominant products for use as filling materials for various consumer goods, such as pillows and sleeping bags. Although durability and resilience are very good (so long as they are not wetted), down and down/feather blends have significant deficiencies. They matt when washed, so dry cleaning is recommended in contrast to home-laundering. The feather quills poke through the ticking and the down passes through the ticking, resulting in loss of pillow height. Many people are allergic to feathers and down. Furthermore, down is very expensive.
To overcome these limitations, crimped synthetic staple fiber, particularly polyester fiberfill, has been used as a filling material for pillows instead of down. The fiberfill is generally made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fibers in staple form, of various cut lengths.
Polyester fiberfill filling material has become well accepted as a reasonably inexpensive filling and/or insulating material for filled articles, such as pillows, cushions and other furnishing materials, bedding materials, such as mattress pads, quilts, comforters and duvets, in apparel, such as parkas and other insulated articles of apparel and sleeping bags, because of its bulk filling power, aesthetic qualities and various advantages over other filling materials. Accordingly, polyester fiberfill is now manufactured and used in large quantities commercially.
While polyester fiberfill is useful, there are some disadvantages associated with its use. For example, batts made from such fiberfill materials usually have very little fire resistance. U.S. Pat. No. 5,578,368 to Forsten et al. is directed to the fire resistant material that includes a fiberfill batt and at least one fire resistant layer of aramid fibers. However, aramid fibers are expensive and can reduce the desired aesthetics of the end product.
In addition, polyester fibers can exhibit a relatively high level of fiber-to-fiber friction. To improve the lubricity and aesthetics of polyester fiberfill, it can be desirable to “slicken” the fiberfill with a coating of durable (i.e., wash-resistant) coating. Typically the durable coating is a silicone, i.e., a cured polysiloxane, which provides softness and resiliency to the batt. In addition, a resin binder may be added to stabilize the batt and make it more durable when washed. However, the addition of a slickener or a resin binder increases the flammability of the batt.